Gordon became a born-again Christian at the age of 11 and spent much of his teenage years praying and studying the Bible. Intending to become a minister in the church, he went to Durham University and studied theology. Whilst there, he became involved in the charismatic movement – preaching, healing and speaking in tongues.

Gordon’s favourite verse in the Bible is 1 Corinthians 13:1 “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things” and he is happy to report that, at the age of 24, he put away childish things and became an atheist.

He is concerned about the effect that fundamentalist Christianity is having in the States, in Africa and even here in the UK. His hypothesis is that one of the few ways of tackling fundamentalist thinking is to use the bible to challenge the bible. In order to explore this hypothesis Gordon attended one and a quarter Alpha courses. He will report on what he heard, what he learnt and what questions the course raised for him.